Will the Tour de France winner be clean?

If Cadel Evans becomes the first Australian to win the Tour de France, it will be one of the greatest sporting feats this country has ever seen.

But amid the celebrations, there will be a small minority of people who raise the inevitable question: is he clean?

It is a question that would be asked across the world, whether the eventual victor is Evans or one of the Schleck brothers, or Samuel Sanchez, or Ivan Basso, or local hero Thomas Voeckler. The whispers will become a roar if three-time champion Alberto Contador wears yellow into Paris.

And in many ways, it will be a valid query because the recent history of the world's most prestigious cycling event is littered with soiled reputations.

Roll call of shame and suspicion

In the past 15 years, only 2008 winner Carlos Sastre can claim to be untainted by the spectre of performance-enhancing substances and processes.

Some, like 1996 winner Bjarne Riis and 2006 champion Floyd Landis have confessed to cheating throughout their careers. 

Others have never been found guilty, but doubts remain over their performances:

- 1997 winner Jan Ullrich rode in the same Telekom team as Riis and a Telekom masseur, Jef D'Hont, revealed in 2007 that the use of EPO had been rife among his riders. D'Hont claimed he had personally supplied Ullrich with EPO, while the German star was among several riders named in the 2006 Operacion Puerto investigation that uncovered a widespread doping network based in Spain.

- Marco Pantani, the 1998 winner, was repeatedly found to have high red blood cell levels that far exceeded the legal maximum of 50 set by the UCI. He recorded a test of 60.1 in 1995 and a 52 in the 1999 Giro d'Italia, forcing his withdrawal from a race in which he was defending champion. Pantani continued to compete but he never reached the same heights and died of a suspected cocaine overdose in 2004.

- Lance Armstrong stands alone as the Tour's greatest champion with seven overall victories from 1999-2005 but his legacy has become increasingly clouded. French newspaper l'Equipe has long claimed that Armstrong submitted a blood test containing EPO in 1999, while his former teammates Tyler Hamilton and Floyd Landis have gone public with claims Armstrong taught them about using performance enhancing drugs. Armstrong continues to vigorously deny all the allegations, pointing to his spotless record with drug testing agencies.

- Three-time winner Contador was a key figure named in the Puerto investigation, while his 2010 victory remains under a cloud after he tested positive for clenbuterol, a banned anabolic steroid, during the race. Contador insists he ingested the drug via a tainted piece of steak; an explanation accepted by the Spanish cycling federation but challenged by the UCI. The Court of Arbitration for Sport will hear the case after the 2011 race is complete.

But all is not lost

While the list of recent Tour winners is filled with doubt and uncertainty, it is entirely possible that the 2011 champion could be clean. Here are a few reasons why:

- None of Evans, the Schleck brothers, Voeckler or Sanchez has been implicated in doping scandals during their careers.

- The UCI has conducted more than 25,000 tests under its biological passport program since 2007, measuring all aspects of a rider's physiology and comparing any changes to past results.

- The Tour de France now operates under a 'no needles' policy, meaning that riders are banned from injecting any substances during the race. Previously, riders could inject vitamins and fluids via syringe or IV drip to hasten their recoveries. While such use of needles was entirely legal, the presence of syringes and other equipment led to inevitable suspicion.

It is impossible to categorically rule out a Landis-style scandal in 2011 but the massive changes to the sport and its culture make it highly unlikely.

Despite the recent decades of controversy, professional cycling remains a massively popular sport in Europe and its presence is growing worldwide. Sponsors, teams and individuals have too much to lose by dragging their collective names through the dirt again, and it is just as well.

The Tour de France is still one of the world's greatest sporting events. It deserves a winner who can do justice to the race's prestigious history and go some way to restoring its reputation in the minds of the sceptics.

 The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of BigPond Sport.

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